Develop a strong opening and closing

is for OPENING (and closing!)

"If you don't strike oil in 3 minutes, stop boring."

- George Jessel

How we begin and end our presentation is a critical success factor. The audience is going to form their opinion of you within the first 90 seconds of your opening.

If you don’t memorize any other parts of your speech (which is not recommended - see "Memorize") memorize your opening and your closing so you can look the audience right in the eye. Dottie Walters, founder of Walters International Speakers Bureau, suggests we start with a laugh and end with a tear.

I like the suggestions offered by speaker and storyteller extraordinaire, Jack Barnard. I’ve included some of his opening examples so you can note how he also incorporates HUMOR in his openings:

-Personalize a story (“I took the elevator to get up here, and I started to worry that the person who thought up Muzak may be thinking up something else.”)

-Establish common ground (“ We’re all Americans here. What a country. Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.”)

-Command attention with a salient fact (“Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.”)

- Question and/or ask for show of hands (“How many of you have ever been threatened by a 7-foot Mongolian with green teeth?”)

- Promise to share something useful (“I promise that if you stay awake through this entire presentation, you will go home tonight with someone brand new – you.”)

-Make an unusual sound (“Bruuumpph! That is the mating sound of the Canadian Mongoose, which you may wonder what it has to do with our topic tonight.”)

- Amusing story/joke (make sure it ties into your topic.)

- Poem, rhyme or song lyric

- Strong quotation

Closings

The audience generally remembers the words spoken at the conclusion of a speech the longest. Here are some of Mr. Bernard's excellent suggestions on crafting and effective, memorable, close:

-Call for Action: Tell the audience exactly what you want them to do.

- Summary: Review the main points or issues you’ve discussed – briefly in the order you presented them

-Anecdote: A dynamite story that encapsulates everything you’ve been saying.

- Quotation: Memorized quotation, poem, quip or phrase. Give credit to the author.

Jack further recommends that if you have a question and answer session following your presentation, then have two closings. One before the Q&A session, and one after.

A GREAT CLOSE FROM ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”